Hansraj Morarji's (Andheri) defender-turned-goalkeeper Tej Vesavkar's heroics helped his side enter the boys' U-16 Div II semi-finals after they beat Maneckji Cooper School (Juhu) 3-1 via tie-breaker in the playoffs of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association's (MSSA) inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Both teams were goalless at the final whistle. Tej, who doubled up as goalkeeper for the tie-breaker, was on target with his kick too. Apart from him, Mohammed Uzair and Arvind Reddiar scored for Hansraj Morarji. For Maneckji Cooper, only Dhritimaan managed to score. Tej said he was a goalkeeper during his U-12 days and that experience helped him excel under the bar yesterday. "This year, our team's defence is weak, so I decided to become a defender but when I started off in the U-12 group, I was a goalkeeper and used to practice saving penalties a lot," said Tej.